Mixed Emotions
by Fornost
Summary: "If there were any issues, the pod would show it to you. Mother would have told you. You didn't need me to check it, you know that." Walter looked down whilst I was saying this. "So again, why did you wake me?" "Sarah.. I-" His eyebrows furrowed together, as if he had to think really hard. "..got lonely." Walter/OC
1. Chapter 1

NAME: DR. S. ATKINS

STATUS: DOCTOR

SPECIALIZATION: FIELD

SHIP: USCSS COVENANT

* * *

"How do you feel, ma'am?" Walter asked while he put a cotton stick in my mouth.

After spitting out some cotton that stayed behind, when Walter was done taking my salvia, I answered: "I feel great!" Walter showed a small smile.

"You sound optimistic." He said and I gave him a smile back.

"I am going to sleep for 12 years, what's not to love?" He laughed.

I was glad the droid could understand the sarcasm, that's why I could get along so well with Walter. He could understand it better than most of the people.

"Any dizzi-"

"Nope!"

"Nausea?"

"Nope!"

"Follow the light please." I obeyed by following the light Walter moved in front of my face. "If you could give me your finger, Sarah?"

There was a stinging pain in my finger when Walter put a needle in.

"Cryo-sleep will commence in 153 minutes. Allow one hour before taking the purgative. And please ensure to consume the requested liquid-" He held up a package before my face, containing some pills. "and vitamin pack."

I smiled at him, with my finger in my mouth because of the needle.

"Thank you Walter." I took off in the direction of the rest of the crew after giving Walter one last smile. Covenant's captain, Branson, first officer, Oram, and pilot, Tennessee, were talking by the control panels. I decided to make my way over there.

"It's a hell of a view ain't it?" Branson asked them. Looking at my captain, I noticed he was wearing a blanket and looked sweaty. He probably didn't feel so well.

"It is pure… Majesty." Oram said in awe.

Tennessee took a deep breath, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. It kind of spooks me out. Some big old sea of nothing." He scoffed. Oram stared at him, clearly not sharing his opinion.

"Space-" The three man turned their heads towards me, not having noticed me before. "The final frontier." Branson let out a short laugh, realizing what I was citing. "To boldly go where no man has gone before." Tennessee was laughing now too. Oram looked at me with amazement.

"Wow, Atkins, those were some beautiful words." I grinned at him.

"Thanks, too bad they aren't mine." A roar of laughter was heard from Tennessee.

"Ah c'mon mate!" He said to a confused looking Oram. "Star trek? You don't know Star Trek? It's a classic man!" I petted the still confused Oram on his shoulder. After that I made my way over to the table were the others were.

I fetched myself a seat next to Lope and Hallet. "Hey boy's, how is my favorite couple?"

Lope placed a hand over his heart. "Atkins, I'm touched."

Hallet provided me with a drink and told some of his jokes to keep us entertained.

"G'night." Branson saluted at us, his crew. He was met with a few 'goodnights' and 'goodnight cap'.

"Feel better." Faris said to him.

I saw his wife, Daniels, winking at him and I smiled. They were so my second favorite couple.

While putting on his cowboy head, Tennessee called: "Is he gone?".

"Yep."

"Ah oh."

The crew roared, knowing what was coming.

"Let's party!" Tennessee laughed.

Music started playing and the volume of everyone's voices turned up. Looking around everyone was drinking, eating and laughing. Enjoying each other's company. It was also a little too sweet I decided. Because of all the couples. It was so obvious at this moment that I was alone.

That was only for a few seconds though. I blended it with the others again by joining a conversation with Upworth and her husband Cole.  
Soon enough, there was started a waging game. I decided to watch instead of joining in. I didn't want to lose money just before going to sleep. It was known that I did not have much luck in this kind of games.

"I got 2500." Tennessee called. Some people 'oohed'. "On this handsome young buck right here." He pointed at Hallet.

"Yeah!"

"Go Hallet!" People cheered him on as he took position to arm wrestle his partner Lope.

"Go! Go!" I joined in with the cheers.

Hallet's face contorted in one of full concentration. It was clear he put all his effort in, but I could see he was losing. Lope was too strong for him.  
When his arm hit the table there was disappointed yelling and some were laughing. Tennessee was seen sulking because of losing his bet. Hallet spread himself out over the table in exhaustion.

Lope took the face of Hallet. "I need to love you, alright?" He laughed, and kissed him on the lips. "Alright. I still love you."

"Aaaahw." I coed.

"Oh that is disgusting dudes." Said Tennessee. "Those two sexpots."

"What. Did I churn up some uncomfortable feelings?" Lope shot back at Tennessee, holding Hallet and a drink.

Tennessee laughed. "Please, do not challenge my open-mindedness, or I'll slide right out of this jumpsuit and show you how comfortable I am!" He gestured with his hands over the table. "I will colonize all over this table, right there!" People 'oohed'.

"That's disgusting Tennessee!" I called. He laughed harder and people were shaking their heads.

Still chuckling, I looked around at everyone and locked eyes with someone. Walter was standing with the rest of us, though a little further away. We looked at each other and shared a smile.

"I heard about these crazy bugs," Rosenthal started telling everyone. "Just outside this colonial post. Apparently, they look like cockroaches the size of a giant poodle." I scrunched my nose up at the story. Sorry, but I hate bugs. You should see my reaction when I cross paths with a spider.

"OK first of all, stop, because, I'm trying to eat." Cole spoke with food in his mouth.

"Oh, come on. This is barely food." He got told by Tennessee.

"But I love it." He shoved a bite in his mouth. "It's the last time I'm gonna have this meatloaf."

It was silent for while after he said that. Everyone stood still again by the thought that they were going to leave to an unknown planet. Leaving everything they knew behind.

"I'm gonna miss grandma's apple pie." Karina broke the silence. They laughed again.

"Sushi!"

"Hmm, sushi, yeah."

"I think I'm gonna miss barbeque." Tennessee said. Of course.

"Nachos."

"I'm gonna miss pizza, so much!" I joined in. It was something I seriously thought about. I'm never going to eat that heavenly food again.

"I'm going to miss that too."

At that moment there was a choking sound coming from Upworth. I worriedly looked across the table at her. She just put down her drink and grabbed with her hand at her throat.

"Are you alright." Cole asked her.

"Hey, the food is not that bad." Trust Tennessee to make a remark in such situations.

The choking sounds intensified and she stood up from her seat, grabbing wildly around her in panic. Everyone rushed towards her but Walter was there first. With one good placed hit on her back, the blockade was removed and Upworth could breathe freely again.  
She coughed a few times and everyone was silently looking at the scene, shocked.

"Down the wrong pipe." Walter remarked. Everyone let out a nervous, relieved laugh.

"Thank you." Upworth thanked the droid.

Walter righted himself again. "I've got your back."

A few laughs were let out and I grinned. Walter looked smug, for as far as the droid could look smug.

"Ooh, that was a joke right." Chuckled Tennessee. Upworth thanked Walter once again.

"So what about that speech Daniels." Someone called to the wife of the captain.

"Well, I have prepared..-" Oram started, but he got interrupted.

"I'm sorry." Daniels said apologetic. Still Oram did not look so happy. "Jake asked me to say something if it's okay?" She referred to her husband.

"Please." Oram then said to Daniels.

"You've all sacrificed so much to be here." She started. I repositioned myself to lean forward, trying to hear it as good as possible.  
"To.. Be a part of this. It's the first ever large scale colonization mission to come this far into our galaxy." Couples started taking each other's hands, holding each other. "We're making history. Everyone back on Earth is really grateful for your hard work and courage."

Daniels looked around at everyone and smiled.

"I just want to say I couldn't pick a better bunch of jerks to get marooned on a distant planet with!" I laughed loudly at her words.  
"So, to the Covenant!"

Everyone cheered and held up their cups.

"To the Covenant!" They called out. "Cheers."

Holding my cup and laughing, I caught Walters eye once again. Smiling, I raised my cup to him. He answered by giving me a nod with his head and a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Dressed in nothing but my underwear, I lied down on my back inside my assigned pod. I felt the muscles in my body relax more and more, as did my mind. Still, an excited buzz went through my body. Of course, I was incredibly excited about waking up. But that had to wait 12 whole years, unfortunately.

Walter was checking on Daniels pod, next to mine. I was watching him work, waiting for him to make his way over to mine. With a hiss, Daniels pod closed, and I could see her eyes close as she went into cryo-sleep.

"Walter." Walter now stood next to my pod, starting to work on making it ready for cryo-sleep.

"Yes ma'am." His face was close to my pod, working on it in concentration. I studied the lines on his face, his eyes his features and his brown hair. When Walter was first introduced to the crew, I almost couldn't believe he was not human. I was thinking, maybe they were making some kind of joke, that later he would reveal himself to be human. I couldn't believe they could make an artificial person look so human like. So real. But he was an android and really not a human.

"When in cryo-sleep, can I dream?" As I asked this question, Walter stopped pushing in buttons and looked up.

"Yes ma'am. In hypersleep, although essentially 'frozen' in this state, you are still capable of dreaming. Dreaming is actively encouraged and consciously pursued as a means to preserve the individual's mental health throughout long periods in cryo. Owing to the way in which the processes of the human body are drastically slowed in hypersleep, these dreams can sometimes last for a year or more."

What. A year.

"Well, if they're going to last one year, they better be some damn good dreams. I don't fancy being in a nightmare for over a year." I sighted.

"Hopefully they are, ma'am."

"Can't you change them or something? Trick them into something good. Maybe throw in some puppies and kittens. Hell, be bold, let some unicorns farting out rainbows appear." Walter smiled at my words.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. Though I can screen your mind through the pod, but apart from following your dreams I can't do anything to change them."

I pulled one corner of my mouth up in a small smile. "Then please watch over me, Walter."

"Certainly, ma'am."

I sighed and faced the ceiling again. "It's going to be a long wait Walter. Will you be alright?"

12 years all alone on this ship, while the rest were all sleeping, would make me go insane. I know Walter was designed for this work, but still, I felt sorry for him. I did not know in what extend Walter could feel alone, but certainly he must feel something, right?

"I will be quite alright. With the work of monitoring this ship containing two-thousand colonists, a thousand embryos and a crew, time will be passing fast." Walter answered while he continued his work on my pod.

I certainly hoped time would go fast too.

"Are you ready to go to sleep, ma'am?" Walter asked me.

I looked at him and smiled. "Bring me some dreams, mister Sandman."

"Sleep tight, Sarah."

The glass above me closed and I took a deep breath. I could see Walter through the glass, still pressing buttons.  
My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier and I knew I couldn't hold them open for much longer. Sleep would come over me and before I lost consciousness, I thought very hard about puppies and kittens, in the hope that in this way, I could make it the topic of my dreams.

With the last push of the button, the last pod closed before Walters eyes. He sighed, feeling some kind of emptiness, but thought nothing of it.

Now Walter was truly the only person awake on the USCSS Covenant.

He looked around at the pods of the crew and satisfied that everything was alright, made his way out of the room.

"Walter, it's time to recharge the energy grid. Please report to the bridge." A female voice was heard.

"On my way Mother."

He walked his way to the bridge and to the consoles. While starting pressing the needed buttons he stated: "Employing energy recharge sail: now."

This is how Walters days looked. Endlessly checking all the pods, the embryos, the crew, and monitoring the ship. The only one he could talk to was Mother.

One day while walking in the pod chamber of the crew, he made his way over to one pod. He checked the status and after getting positive results, his hand hovered above one particular button.  
He hesitated, not something he did often. His actions where mostly very well calculated and direct. But now he waited a moment before he decided to push down on the button.

On the screen that hung next to the pod, images started to appear. He saw a very young girl, not much older than 6, in a bright green dress. Her dark brown hair was braided into two separate braids, finished with red flower hair ties. His view changed. The view was no longer on the little girl, but from the little girl's point of view. "Deeeeeeeeexter! Come here!" The little girl run around in what seemed to be a garden. Looking behind plants and bushes. "There you are!" The girl exclaimed when a very fluffy behind came in view. It was one of a small puppy who was in the middle of digging a hole. At the sound of the little girl's voice, the puppy looked up and hopped over to her. The girl flopped down in the grass and happily, the puppy jumped into her lap, trying to lick her face. The little girl laughed loudly. "No Dexter, ew! No licking!" She giggled.

Walter smiled at the dream. It was probably a memory. A very good memory by the looks.  
No longer wanting to intrude in the mind of the person in the pod, he took his hand off of the console and laid his hand on the glass.

"I'm happy your dreams are about puppies, Sarah."


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly, very slowly, I could feel my mind returning from sleep, to consciousness. My toes and my fingers started tingling, and I knew that in a short time, I could move them again. I tried to open my eyes. With some effort, I succeeded, and I got to see a blurry vision.

I could see that my pod was open. Also, that a large shape was standing next to it.  
That's when the nausea hit me. It hit me harder than the tequila did on my 16th birthday party. Gagging, I shot up in a sitting position and leaned over the edge of my pod. I emptied my stomach, which was nothing but some stomach fluids.  
Luckily, someone was prepared. The fluids that left my mouth were caught in a small bucket that was held under my face.

Tears streamed over my face because of all the gagging. I took deep breaths as my stomach seemed to calm down. Looking up, the person that held up the bucket turned out to be Walter.

"Thanks Walter. Thank god for you being here, or else it would be me cleaning barf like the day after my 16th birthday party."

I cringed very hard at that memory.

"Ooh how I wished I never invited Archie. He had the stomach content of a cow." I stretched my arms above my body, feeling the movement come back in my muscles. "So, how much time passed? Are we close to Origae-6?" I looked up at Walter.

"I regret to inform you we are not. Precisely 1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks and 5 days have passed. The reason I have woken you earlier is due to a complication." I shot up at his words. Instantly feeling awake at the rush of adrenaline that shot through my body at the thought of a complication. Whatever could be wrong? It must be something serious if Mother or Walter could not fix it.  
I looked around me at the rest of the pods, but they were all closed. So maybe it wasn't life threatening. If that was it, the rest of the crew would've been woken up too.

"It's about a malfunction in the pod of one of the colonists, pod 392. It may have caused health-"

"Take me to it."

I walked fast, worried. Walter was leading the way through the halls of the USCSS Covenant. We arrived at the door that gave access to all of the colonists and embryos. Quickly, we were granted entrance after Walter gave his code.

Walking further in the large hall, we came to a halt in front of pod 392. I rushed over to it, quickly beginning to press buttons. Walter stood next to me, silently watching me work.  
I brought up all of the information the pod could give to me. It showed me that indeed, there had been a malfunction. It was a short interruption of the power supply. Switching to the health statuses, I scanned for complications.

But there were none. The person in pod 392 was completely healthy despite the small malfunction.

I could breathe again. This whole time there was adrenaline pumping through my body out of worry for the colonist. Now it was slowly leaving my body.

I looked up at the person next to me, who has been quiet the whole time.

"Walter, I don't understand. There is isn't any complication. None."

Walter took his eyes off the pod and looked at me. "Out of precaution, I needed you to take a look."

"Why? You have probably done the same as me. Checked the health statuses. You could have already seen there wasn't a problem!" I was a bit irritated. Because the adrenaline that left my body was replaced by exhaustion, and that made me cranky. And what made me more cranky was the knowledge that the adrenaline and worry weren't even necessary.

More importantly, the waking up part wasn't necessary. And god help me, I wasn't a morning person.

"Ma'am, my apologies if I miscalculated. But-" Walter started to apologize.

"Damn right, you miscalculated." I snapped and started to walk away. "Now excuse me, I am going to look for some food." Walking out of the door, I immediately felt guilty for snapping at Walter. I know he only meant well. But why, oh why, did he ever wake me up. It wasn't logical. He checked the pod's statuses. And if he really wasn't sure he could've provided answers from Mother. It really was unnecessary to wake me up.

Still in a bad mood I arrived in the canteen. Grabbing various food packages, I set them down on the table. I picked one up and tried to open in. Tried. The package just wouldn't work with me.

"Aaarhg!" Irritated, I threw the package back down on the table.

"Sarah." I jumped slightly at the noise. Walter walked so silently I didn't hear him entering the room. Or I was just so preoccupied with the package that I missed him entering. Anyway.

"I'm sorry I woke you up." He said sincere. I breathed in and out, feeling myself relax some more.

It was silent for a while.

"It's alright, Walter." I told him. There wasn't a point at staying mad at him. And there was no way I could stay mad at him. I mean, it's Walter. I turned towards him and gave him a smile. "I am not mad."

He smiled back at me. "Thank you, ma'am." He walked further into the room and grabbed the packages that I left abandoned on the table. "If you want, I can prepare some food."

"Please drop the ma'am. It makes me feel old and friends don't call each other ma'am."

Walter halted in his actions. "You think of us as friends?" He asked.

I was surprised by that question. By how well we got along with each other, I considered Walter and I friends for a long time. "Of course I do! Well, only if you want us to be friends."

"Yes." He said quickly. "I do want us to be friends."

"Well, I would like some food, my friend." I winked at him, laughing at how quickly he gave his answer to the question about being friends. Happily, I sat down at the table.

Walter set to working on preparing the food. Not much later, it was done. He set it down before me and took a seat next to mine.

"So, how was your time alone while I was sleeping?" I asked him in between taking bites from the food.

"It went well. No complications beside the small malfunction of pod 392." He answered. I nodded.

"Good."

Noticing he didn't take anything from the food, I shoved a plate towards him.

"Please, take some."

Walter shook his head. "That would be a waste of the food. My body doesn't need it like your human body does." He declined.

But I insisted. "Really Walter, take some."

Together we ate the food Walter prepared. I knew Walter didn't need it, but I did not want him to feel left out. He was an android, but I treated him like a human, and that included eating the food.

"You dreamed about puppies, Sarah." Walter told me. I looked at him, surprised.

"I did? What did the dream look like?" I asked curious.

"I saw you as a little girl. You wore a green dress and red hair ties. You were playing with a puppy."

Smiling, I told him: "Oh! That would be Dexter! I got him for my 6th birthday. I had bugged my parents the whole year about how much I wanted a puppy." I told him all about Dexter. Our adventures. His playful behavior. His sometimes naughty behavior.

I told him about when Dexter died, 16 years later. How sad I was and never wanted a dog again.

From that story came more, and I told him many things about my life. Walter asked many questions, seemingly curious to learn more. And I gave them. We sat like that for a long time. Me telling stories and Walter asking questions. I was in a very good mood. Happy to just talk with Walter.

Later, much, much later, we fell silent. That was the moment I realized we had a very long journey ahead, and I couldn't very well spend it awake.

"Walter, I have to go back to cryo-sleep." I told him. He nodded. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a hint of disappointment on his face.

"Yes, you do. Let us make our way over to the medical bay, to get the needed preparing."

We got through the needed preparing. I was slightly reluctant to go back into cryo-sleep, feeling bad for leaving Walter alone again. When I first learned that I was awoken for nothing, I was not happy. I was even slightly pissed off. But now I actually didn't mind. That was because I had a really good time with Walter, and I was happy I could keep him company.

But still, I wanted a question to be answered. So before I got into my pod, I asked him: "Walter, what is the real reason you woke me up?" I looked in his eyes. He was silent, looking for words. I studied his face while he seemed to be thinking about the answer he would give back to me.

"Sarah, I-" His eyebrow furrowed together, as if he had to think hard about what he was about to say. "..I got lonely." It came out more as a question than an answer.

It stunned me what he said. I knew he had some emotions, but I did not know how many emotions he could feel. And I never expected him to be able to feel such a strong emotion. To feel lonely.

I felt a pang in my heart.

Stepping closer, I hugged him. I encircled my arms around his middle and laid my head against his chest.

He hadn't moved since I stepped towards him and held him to me. He held his arms stiff next to his body. Maybe he was shocked? Perplexed? Or he didn't know what to do. He was probably never hugged before.

"You're supposed to hug me back." I murmured in his shirt.

He did nothing. Maybe he didn't hear me? It was not like I said it very loud, and it was muffled because I stuffed my face half in his shirt.

But then I felt his arms move and they circled behind my back. I smiled and sighed, feeling content. Walter laid his chin atop of my head and I felt very small compared to him. But beside feeling small, I felt safe in his arms. And warm. God, I didn't know Walter could have such a nice body temperature.

"If you ever feel lonely," I said softly. "And if you want, you can wake me up again. For a short while of course." I leaned back so I could look him in the eyes. That's what we did for a while, just stare at each other.

"I'm going back to sleep now." And I let go of him.


	4. Chapter 4

And Walter did. Walter woke me up more than once. He woke me up so he wouldn't feel lonely anymore. And I was glad I could provide Walter with some company.

Walter has woken me a total of 9 times, in a length of 5 years. The longest I stayed awake was more than 3 weeks. And we didn't got bored one moment of it.

We spend our time doing various things. Watching movies, reading books together, walking around the ship, doing check-ups and playing games like basketball. That was a game Walter seemed to enjoy very much. I, very much, did not. I just couldn't get the ball through the basket and got very frustrated when Walter threw it without any effort. It always would be a perfect shot. I would throw the ball down and would sit myself on the ground next to it, pouting, very much like a little child.

"Stupid game. Stupid ball. Stupid basket." I sat on the floor with my arms crossed. The ball rolled passed me and I scooped it up in my hands. "Are you laughing at me, now?" I looked at Walter, who stood a few meters away from me. He had a small grin on his face.

"Oh no, Sarah, I wouldn't dare." He held his hand up in mock defense. An amused smile appeared on my face. So the android could be sarcastic too, nice.

I laughed. "So mean!" I threw the ball that was in my hands at Walter. It was aimed at his face but I knew it would do no harm. His reflexes were way too fast and the ball was caught in his hands.

"I would say throwing a ball at someone is considered to be mean." He was spinning the ball on top of two fingers.

"Touché."

What I enjoyed very much, was watching movies. I couldn't recall how many movies we have watched already, but that would be a high number. We chose the movie we were going to watch in turn. It was really interesting what kind of movie Walter would choose. Mostly they were classic's. He said he wanted to learn more about history.

The way we read books was interesting. We didn't choose books for ourselves to read, but we chose them for each other. I could say I feel so much more smarter than I felt before. While I chose my all favorite books which contained adventure and romance stories, Walter chose informative books. In theory, I now knew everything about the USCSS Covenant.

Walter was made to learn and wanted to learn as much as possible. But I never thought he would learn from my sappy books. He wanted to know everything he didn't understand. So he asked me questions about actions, words and emotions from the characters of the books he read. At first I didn't think he would get all of it, he would look very confused when I tried to explain to him why the character would feel that way. But after a while, it seemed like he understood. As if he learned new emotions.

At this moment we were sitting in my compartment, both reading a book. Walter was sitting on the couch, posture forever perfect. I sat next to him, slouching, with my legs draped over his lap. He didn't seem to mind.

"To be fond of dancing was a certain step to falling in love." Walter said in his smooth voice. I looked up at him and the book he was currently reading: Pride and Prejudice. One of my most favorite books. "I don't think I quite understand this line."

I thought about it and how I could best explain it to Walter.

"Well-." I started. "Put yourself in the shoes of a Victorian lady. The only time she can really be close to a man is when dancing." As I talked, Walter listened intently. "When a lady enjoyed dancing, she would spend time with a gentleman. Spending time in close quarters with a gentlemen, when both people are dressed up and at their most attractive, can certainly lead to feelings."

Walter gazed into my eyes and asked: "Are you fond of dancing?".

"Yes," I smiled. "I am."

" _Walter, we have a problem."_ The voice of Mother said. I stiffened and waited for Mother to tell us what was wrong. " _A neutrino burst was detected in sector 106. This could trigger a destructive event. Report to the bridge immediately."_ Walters face hardened.

"On my way Mother."

I jumped off the couch and said to Walter: "I'll go check on the crew." He nodded and turned to walk out of the door, me following close behind. We parted ways when he took a turn that would lead to the bridge, and I continued towards the section that held the pods of the crew.

I got thrown against the wall of the ship when it shook violently. An alarm started blaring and red light flashed.

" _Warning: Power surge detected."_

I hissed in pain when I was thrown to the other side and my shoulder hit the wall not too softly.

" _Emergency. Threat level: critical."_

I ran, or more stumbled, the rest of the way to the crew section. After I made it through the door I noticed some of the crew were already up (Walter must have initiated an emergency crew revival) and were in the progress of getting the rest of the crew out. People were yelling and machines were beeping. Some that just came out of their pod threw up, unable to do something with their weak body at the moment.

" _Evacuate the cryo-chamber immediately."_

I ran towards a closed pod, right next to mine that was long empty. It was still closed and so where the eyes of Daniels who laid in it. Tennessee stood next to me, trying to speed up the progress of waking Daniels.

"Daniels!" Tennessee tapped at the glass of the pod. A stain of blood was smeared on it where Daniels hit her nose against. "You have to wake up darling! We're waking up early!"

"Override the SSP!" I yelled at the pod, rapidly pushing buttons. "Breach the chamber, NOW!"

With a hiss, the pod opened. "Hey, hey, come on up. C'mon." Together with Tennessee, we dragged Daniels out of her pod. She groaned as she slowly came to consciousness.

"BRANSON! BRANSON WAKE UP!" Oran shouted at the last pod still closed. Tennessee ran over to help and I was left supporting Daniels.

"Jake.. Jake!" Daniels shouted. She sputtered against my grip and stumbled towards her husband's pod. Together with Upworth, we tried to get her away from it. Oram and Tennessee tried to break open the pod.

"Get it open! Get it open!" Daniels screamed.

The pod flashed so many warning lights that I've never even seen in my life. I saw sparkles flying from the pod as it malfunctioned.

Daniels got away from our hands again and climbed over the pod towards the glass. Smoke was seen rising inside of the pod and my heart sank.

A spark set of a sea of flames inside of the pod.

"NO!" Daniels screamed. The sound of it broke my heart.

I dragged her of the pod and she broke down in my arms. She fell down like a rag doll and I couldn't hold her weight, so we collapsed to the ground. She screamed, cried and wailed. Tears leaked from my eyes as the pain she felt hit me. I did not know what to say or what to do. I just held her.


	5. Chapter 5

I felt sick. Really sick after the event that occurred. I couldn't get the image of the burning pod out of my head. And the screams Daniels let out. Oh, those screams. They still gave me a chill from the memory.

I didn't want to recall the smell that hung in the air at that time. My stomach couldn't handle that again. I never thought that ever in my life I would find out what a burning human body smelled like. It was horrible.

Daniels was dropped off in her room after we made sure she was okay. Well, as okay as she could be at this moment. We checked her body status and concluded that her physical health was alright. Emotionally, we couldn't do anything for her at the moment.

Some crew members were left clearing the bodies of those who passed in their pods. Captain Branson and some colonists. My job was already done. I had checked every crew member on their health and also checked some pods that were in need of a look. At this moment, I couldn't do anything. I could come up with so many things that could be done, especially at this time, but I did not have the energy to do anything. I was mentally exhausted. Right now, I was wandering aimlessly through the halls of the USCSS Covenant. Not really knowing where I was going. I was just walking around, thinking. Processing all of this.

While turning a corner in the hallway, someone else's path crossed with mine. With a thud I collided against the persons chest. I gasped at the impact. My body didn't expect the collision and I couldn't regain my balance fast enough. I was in the middle of falling on my behind when my fall was interrupted by two hands: One gripped my arm, while the other one caught me behind my back.

Looking up I saw the face the face of the person who caught me.

"Walter." I breathed out his name.

"Sarah!" His hand found my face as he seemed to inspect it. "Are you alright?" His thumb stroked my cheek and without much thinking, I leaned more into his touch.

"Yes." He still looked at me with a concerned face. "I am, Walter." I lightly touched his hand with my fingertips. The hand that was still on my cheek and seemed to be burning hot. "I'm alright."

He showed a small smile at my words and I instantly gave him a smile back.

My face quickly changed from a smile to a concerned one. After looking at Walters face, I now noticed a large cut across his cheek. I trailed the cut softly with my finger.

"But you aren't alright Walter! What happened?" Walter seemed to think about my question. He brought his hand up to his own face and touched his cut. In the progress, his hand brushed against mine and I retreated my hand quickly.

"Oh." It looked like he just discovered his injury for himself. "I had not detected this injury yet. It must have happened in the control room."

Walter lowered his hand from his face.

"I will make my way to medical to repair the damage." Walter said, announcing his depart.

"Let me help you!" I said quickly. "Uh, I mean," I stammered. Why did I stammer all of the sudden? "The cut is on your face, I can get to it more easily than yourself..."

Walter blinked at me. "That's alright ma'am, you don't have to."

I gave him a look for calling me ma'am. I told him so many times already not to call me ma'am. He is too polite for his own good.

"I'm still helping you." I started walking. "Come, let's go to medical." Walter followed me.

Arrived at medical I ordered Walter to sit down. I took a seat in front of Walter after I gathered the tools I need.

Holding his chin, I turned his head sideways so I could take a closer look at his cut. It wasn't as deep as I first thought it was, but it did need help to close up.

Taking a good hold of the skin glue pistol, I placed it at the top of the cut.

While I was working on his cut, Walter's eyes seemed to be glued on my face. I did not know why it was making me nervous, but for some reason it did. I swallowed the small lump that had formed in my throat and tried to fully concentrate on the work I was doing.

Our knees touched accidently when I shifted to grab a tool from the table nearby. I jumped up a little bit at the unexpected contact we made. Walter looked down at his leg where we touched, but didn't say anything.

Why was I acting so weird? Pull yourself together Sarah! It's only Walter, your friend.

I finished up closing his cut and gave is face a look over. Satisfied with my work I put away the tools.

"All done. You're as new." I gave him a bright smile.

"Thank you, Sarah." His fingers traced the now closed cut on his face.

He smiled back.


End file.
